AI and the changing shape of work
Jun 2026
Artificial intelligence (AI) has moved quickly from experimentation into everyday working life. Across businesses, AI tools are already helping people write content, analyse information, answer employee queries and support decision-making. The pace of change has created excitement, but it has also brought uncertainty.
For employees, questions remain around job security and future skills. For leaders, the challenge is broader. Where should investment go? How quickly should organisations move? Which capabilities will matter most over the next few years? Much of the public discussion still focuses on whether AI will replace jobs. Yet many of the people working closest to AI adoption believe the conversation should be framed differently. Their view is that AI is changing the way work happens. The bigger shift sits inside roles themselves. Routine and repetitive tasks are already being handed to technology. Administrative work, reporting and information gathering can increasingly be completed through AI systems. That creates an opportunity for people to spend more time in areas where human strengths matter most.
According to Charlotte de Metz, Chief People Officer at Corsearch, organisations should think carefully about how they use those gains. "Do not replace your operations team with AI. Use AI to remove low-value work so your team can do higher-value work." The distinction matters because efficiency alone does not create stronger organisations. Removing repetitive tasks from HR teams, for example, can free people to focus on development programmes, employee experience and longer-term organisational needs. The same principle applies across departments. Many leaders are also beginning to view AI literacy as an essential workplace skill. Understanding how these tools work, where they can add value and when human judgement should take priority is becoming increasingly important. Charlotte believes that AI capability could soon become one of the strongest factors in hiring and talent decisions. She argues that organisations need to start building that capability now, both through recruitment and within existing teams.
At the same time, AI is creating fresh challenges for employers. Recruitment processes are already changing. Applications can be enhanced with AI tools and interviews can be heavily supported by technology. Highly polished answers do not always reveal genuine capability. Human judgement still matters. As Charlotte observed, "humans evaluating humans" remains critical. Questions around technology and trust extend well beyond recruitment. Across organisations, many leaders are discovering that simply adding AI tools into existing workflows often delivers modest gains. Some are now taking a more ambitious approach and redesigning work itself. Andrew Garrihy, CEO and Founder of The Cmo Coach believes many organisations are missing a larger opportunity. Andrew has spent a decade working at the frontier of AI in business - launching the first car piloted by a smartphone, completing Schubert's Unfinished Symphony with AI and building the first AI-powered children's sign language app. "Most businesses are plugging AI into existing processes and wondering why the returns feel marginal,” he says. “Organisations gain the greatest value when they invest those gains back into growth.”
Time returned through AI can create space for deeper thinking, closer customer relationships and stronger ideas. It can also give teams room to explore work that often gets pushed aside by day-to-day operational pressures. The other challenge that sits beneath many AI discussions is the foundations in which it is built upon. As businesses prepare for AI-driven search and changing customer behaviours, weaknesses in systems and data are becoming more visible. Andrew believes organisations cannot expect strong outcomes from disconnected information or outdated infrastructure. As AI increasingly shapes how people discover information and products, organisations are being pushed to rethink how they structure content and build customer experiences.
For many businesses, the lesson emerging from early AI adoption is relatively simple. Technology itself may not be the biggest obstacle. Culture, systems and ways of working often create the greatest friction. The conversation around AI and jobs will continue. So will the predictions. Yet the organisations moving forward with confidence appear to share the belief that AI works best when it creates space for people to focus on work that requires curiosity and judgement. The question for leaders is, when AI gives people time back, what will they choose to do with it?
This article was brought to you by Collaborate as part of our Better Working series. Collaborate is an independent business centre in central Woking & Guildford, offering Serviced Offices, Coworking Desks, Meeting Rooms and Virtual Office services. If you’d like to provide some feedback or get in touch, feel free to Contact us.
Which AI will matter most in the next few years?
For employees, questions remain around job security and future skills. For leaders, the challenge is broader. Where should investment go? How quickly should organisations move? Which capabilities will matter most over the next few years? Much of the public discussion still focuses on whether AI will replace jobs. Yet many of the people working closest to AI adoption believe the conversation should be framed differently. Their view is that AI is changing the way work happens. The bigger shift sits inside roles themselves. Routine and repetitive tasks are already being handed to technology. Administrative work, reporting and information gathering can increasingly be completed through AI systems. That creates an opportunity for people to spend more time in areas where human strengths matter most.
What should AI be used for?
According to Charlotte de Metz, Chief People Officer at Corsearch, organisations should think carefully about how they use those gains. "Do not replace your operations team with AI. Use AI to remove low-value work so your team can do higher-value work." The distinction matters because efficiency alone does not create stronger organisations. Removing repetitive tasks from HR teams, for example, can free people to focus on development programmes, employee experience and longer-term organisational needs. The same principle applies across departments. Many leaders are also beginning to view AI literacy as an essential workplace skill. Understanding how these tools work, where they can add value and when human judgement should take priority is becoming increasingly important. Charlotte believes that AI capability could soon become one of the strongest factors in hiring and talent decisions. She argues that organisations need to start building that capability now, both through recruitment and within existing teams.
The challenges with AI
At the same time, AI is creating fresh challenges for employers. Recruitment processes are already changing. Applications can be enhanced with AI tools and interviews can be heavily supported by technology. Highly polished answers do not always reveal genuine capability. Human judgement still matters. As Charlotte observed, "humans evaluating humans" remains critical. Questions around technology and trust extend well beyond recruitment. Across organisations, many leaders are discovering that simply adding AI tools into existing workflows often delivers modest gains. Some are now taking a more ambitious approach and redesigning work itself. Andrew Garrihy, CEO and Founder of The Cmo Coach believes many organisations are missing a larger opportunity. Andrew has spent a decade working at the frontier of AI in business - launching the first car piloted by a smartphone, completing Schubert's Unfinished Symphony with AI and building the first AI-powered children's sign language app. "Most businesses are plugging AI into existing processes and wondering why the returns feel marginal,” he says. “Organisations gain the greatest value when they invest those gains back into growth.”
Giving back time
Time returned through AI can create space for deeper thinking, closer customer relationships and stronger ideas. It can also give teams room to explore work that often gets pushed aside by day-to-day operational pressures. The other challenge that sits beneath many AI discussions is the foundations in which it is built upon. As businesses prepare for AI-driven search and changing customer behaviours, weaknesses in systems and data are becoming more visible. Andrew believes organisations cannot expect strong outcomes from disconnected information or outdated infrastructure. As AI increasingly shapes how people discover information and products, organisations are being pushed to rethink how they structure content and build customer experiences.
Moving forward with confidence
For many businesses, the lesson emerging from early AI adoption is relatively simple. Technology itself may not be the biggest obstacle. Culture, systems and ways of working often create the greatest friction. The conversation around AI and jobs will continue. So will the predictions. Yet the organisations moving forward with confidence appear to share the belief that AI works best when it creates space for people to focus on work that requires curiosity and judgement. The question for leaders is, when AI gives people time back, what will they choose to do with it?
This article was brought to you by Collaborate as part of our Better Working series. Collaborate is an independent business centre in central Woking & Guildford, offering Serviced Offices, Coworking Desks, Meeting Rooms and Virtual Office services. If you’d like to provide some feedback or get in touch, feel free to Contact us.
